Just coming back in for an update on my build with the P5N-E. Just made my punch list and it looks like I'll be waiting until tomorrow, pay day, to get a few things done. This build's gone overbudget, but I haven't had this much fun since Abit made the best overclocking boards (BX6r2 FTW!). Oh, how times have changed...
Someone mentioned that it's their first Asus build. It's the first Asus build for me too. I work for a large retail tech company so I get good deals on Intel mobo/chips. Their stability is second to none but, unfortunately, the've historically had zero overclocking potential... Before that, I was an Abit fan. My BX6r2 (Celery 366@550), BP6 (2x Celery 366@550), and BE6-II (PIII 450, stock) are still chugging along as test boxes. Since the heyday of the P6 core I haven't seen a CPU that was so much freaking fun to toy with. I just hope that Asus can get their act together and give us some more BIOS support. This board's been insanely popular, so hopefully the support will be forthcoming. 0401 is a good step forward but we hunger for more.
On my RAM issues...
I've got an RMA in with Newegg that I'm going to ship out tomorrow. I'm done trying to play with the TwinX 6400 C4 with the nappy Promos chips. They've waived my restocking fee after I complained of MemTest failures, saving me $41 (woot). So that saga's finished. I won't even talk results of the 3 days of testing I did, it was sad to say the least. Avoid all of the Promos chips listed in the threads that Core2 linked to - it'll do you good.
So that brings me to the choice of new memory. I'm trying to stay as low as possible on costs, because getting more pricey means eating more ramen noodles and less real food. I'm a fan of Corsair after their support's helped me with several builds, but the cheapening of their modules with nappy chips makes me a tad miffed having been burnt by it.
Right now I'm looking at a few contenders, since I've got some time before I have to choose:
2x 1GB Super Talent DDR800 C4 Kit [
$268.99 w/ $20 MIR]
T800UX2GC4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820609026
- Okay, it lists it as "4-4-3-8". Whisky tango foxtrot?
- The heat spreaders are so ugly that only a mother could love them. I'd want to replace em, fo sho.
- Support? Does it exist?
2x 1GB G.Skill DDR667 C3 Kit [
$294.99]
F2-5400CL3D-2GBGA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231090
- Sure it's rated at 667, but it's supposedly got the Micro D9 under the hood. Should, theoretically, get some good speeds, justifying the cost.
- "3-4-3-8". Very impressive latency! Should indicate even more headroom on the clock-speed front...
- G.Skill? Never had experience with these cats, seen very few reviews (but i'm out of the loop)
2x 2GB G.Skill DDR800 C4 Kit [
294.99]
F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231065
- Okay, 800MHz at 4-4-4-12. Supposedly equipped with the D9 hotness. But can it take me to 950-1050?
- Can do 800 MHz C4 at 2.1v! Feed it 2.4v or more and where can it go?
After all of this research, I'm left wondering if it's even worth the extra cash. With lower-end 2GB kits running under $200, should I spend my limited cash on performance RAM. If it's not going to limit my CPU overclock, is the extra memory bandwidth useful?
NB/SB Heatsink:
I think I've settled on the Thermalright HR-05 for the NB. It puts out a ton of heat and I don't want to risk any stability by having it run too hot. I'll probably pick it up after the RAM, since I've got a 2.5" fan on the NB factory heatsink.
For the SB I still haven't made up my mind. I haven't seen anything that jumps out at me as being practical for SLI use and has enough output to go air-cooled in my P180 case.